I started oil pulling in November 2009, and have kept a journal of my experience as I’ve been going along. This is really for my own use and probably won’t be very interesting to others, so I’ve also created this page to keep a record of any significant physical/mental changes, experiments with different types of oil and other notable parts of my experience with pulling oil. I’ll keep updating it as/when these happen (yes, I’m being optimistic, and assuming that I will have some notable results! But if not, I’ll note that too).

November 2009 – Beginning Oil Pulling With Sunflower Oil

Day 1 – experienced a mildly euphoric feeling after pulling, kind of like I’ve felt while juice fasting in the past.

Day 4 – experienced a relief of toothache during oil pulling, which lasted for the rest of the day. Though I am doing other things for my teeth too, so can’t be 100% sure the oil is responsible.

Day 5 – oil is now turning whitish in colour (as it’s meant to).

Day 8 – End of first week – skin on chest now has far fewer pimples. Toothache has stayed away apart from the occasional twinge here and there.

Day 11 – A small white spot at the corner of my eye has disappeared, after hanging around for about three months. My period is also three days late – I’m guessing the oil pulling is responsible, as it’s usually totally regular. Tried oil pulling twice today – once in the morning, and once early evening, as I had mild toothache and wondered if it would help. I added a drop of tea tree oil the second time – felt a little spaced and headachey for a short while afterwards, though the toothache cleared up. About an hour later, my tongue was less coated than usual.

Day 31 - End of my first month with sunflower oil. In summary, this month oil pulling has helped with toothache, and my skin is clearer than usual of pimples, although still not totally clear. I had a few health ‘challenges’ towards the end of the month (stomach bug, cystitis and the beginnings of a cold), which I put down to my immune system being a bit run down thanks to lack of sleep – I don’t think these symptoms are anything to do with oil pulling or detox. I also had a late period and bloating around ovulation, both of which are unusual for me – I do think oil pulling may have disrupted my hormonal balance a bit, as there is nothing else going on in my life that might have caused this. Hopefully things will be back to normal next month. Tomorrow I’ll start a month of oil pulling with sesame oil.

Day 62 – Have been using sesame oil since my last post – that is a nice oil to pull with. My skin has stayed clear (by my standards), and my toothache has stayed away, except for a few days over Xmas when I was eating a lot more sugar than I normally have. I went to the dentist (first time in nearly 2 years) and found out that I need a small filling. I was surprised I didn’t need more than that, considering my less than ideal habits until a few months ago, so maybe the oil pulling has helped there. I’ve missed the odd day here and there over the last month, but oil pulling is part of my routine now, and I feel better for doing it regularly. Next I’m trying oil pulling with coconut oil.